School bond Measure M leading in Davenport

DAVENPORT -- Voters easily passed a school bond measure Tuesday that will raise funds to modernize and renovate the Pacific Elementary School District.

Measure M won 78 percent of the vote, with 231 votes in favor and 65 against. The district encompasses 445 households, and the measure needed 55 percent voter approval to pass.

The measure allows the one-school district to borrow up to $830,000 to bring the buildings up to 21st century standards. District officials say the school needs to replace a dilapidated roof and a portable classroom, convert a teen center into a multi-use building, and upgrade the school's computers.

To pay off the bond, property taxes will increase over the next 30 years, up about $30 per $100,000 of assessed value each year. An independent citizens' committee will oversee the funds to ensure they are used only for their intended purposes.

The multipurpose room now is used as a teen center, but Eric Bitter, the school's principal and superintendent, said the school wants to bring it up to earthquake standards so it can be used for the school's music program.

School officials weighed a bond measure against a parcel tax measure, Bitter said, but decided on the former because the parcel tax measure would not have raised enough money to make the repairs and upgrades.

The K-6 school is on Ocean Street in Davenport and has 125 students including 19 preschoolers enrolled this year.